RevitalizationofRivers In IndiaDraftPolicy Recommendation (g) Food Parks (Hub and Spoke Model): We recommend the setting up of a ‘hub and spoke’ configuration – with the processing units being the hub; the pre-processing centers being the spokes at the village cluster level, and the collection centers the spokes at the individual village level. We recommend that the village and cluster level operations be managed by FPOs, while the processing units be managed by industry. (h) Online Platform: We recommend that online platforms be made available to farmers to: i) facilitate certification of produce; ii) provide seamless access to government schemes; and iii) obtain crop and livestock insurance. A case in point is the crop insurance given to farmers of Rajasthan through an online portal, which saw historically high registrations within two months of the portal’s creation. 3.4. COORDINATED INSTITUTIONAL FUNCTIONING We must have convergence of all institutional activities through a nodal agency for each river. This can happen through an appropriate national level agency, and a key state level coordination agency. The following key aspects would need to be taken care of: (a) A single window support system for a given farmer can be achieved by establishing one nodal agency which will make the process very efficient. DRAFT (b) ICT support like a Dashboard could be instrumental in tracking and monitoring the progress. (c) The program implementing team should be permanent for at least 10 years, so as to facilitate long-term sustainable implementation and ensure accountability. (d) A robust management and monitoring plan must be set up to ensure and oversee the implementation of the provisions of the river policy. An integrated river resources management should be fostered through a group of stakeholders comprising of government officers, elected representatives, community members, non-governmental organizations, etc. 19

RevitalizationofRivers In IndiaDraftPolicy Recommendation (e) Convergence must happen across various government departments/ agencies (Agriculture, Water Resources, Environment, Fisheries, Rural Development, Pollution Control, Horticulture and others), farmer co-operatives, consumer groups, private sector players, NGOs/Community Based Organizations, elected representatives and Panchayats. The Panchayat could be empowered to play a crucial role in promoting the twin strategy of conservation and livelihood security. (f) Collaboration for Reduction of Pollution and Misuse ofRivers: Sewage, industrial effluent, non-degradable solid waste (especially plastic), and non-point source agricultural runoff need to be regulated. We have a regulatory regime in place for most of the sources of pollution. Pollution is under the purview of Pollution Control Boards, but on standalone basis they have limited impact. If the parent ministries of the industries, Urban Local Bodies, or Panchayats do not dis-incentivize the respective stakeholders from polluting, there may not be effective reduction in pollution. Coordination between the regulators (like the Pollution Control Board) and the Ministries of Agriculture, etc. is needed to act on pollution. We suggest involving private participation in sewage treatment so as to use the output from DRAFT the sewage as a product of commercial value. To finance this initiative, a sewage treatment tax can be considered towards financial viability of the enterprise. 4. CONCLUSION Indian rivers need urgent nationwide attention to revitalize them. In order to use rivers for economic or development purposes, they must first flow. The intervention proposed in the policy recommendation is: tree plantation for a minimum of 1-kilometer width along the entire river’s length on either side of the river. The riverside land can be broadly classified, based on ownership, as public land and private farmland. Tree plantation on the public land can begin immediately; the scope 20